Sharks shut out in opener

San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov, of Kazakhstan, blocks a shot by a Anaheim Ducks player in the second period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game Thursday, April 16, 2009, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Before the playoffs began, the Sharks insisted that this year's team was more resilient than those of the past.

Now they get an early chance to find out.

After working all season to secure home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Sharks fell 2-0 to the Anaheim Ducks at HP Pavilion on Thursday night in the opener of their first-round series.

For a Presidents' Trophy-winning team that had just lost to a No. 8 seed, the Sharks weren't hanging their heads too low.

"I don't feel distraught or anything," Coach Todd McLellan said. "I thought we played a pretty good game. We've got to improve in some areas. We've got to get to the goalie's face a little bit more. But we did a lot of things good."

One thing not on that last list was special-teams play.

A power-play goal by Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer at 5:18 of the third period broke open a scoreless game, whereas the Sharks failed to score on any of their six times with the man advantage. Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf netted the insurance goal with less than three minutes remaining.

"Tonight we were out of sync and didn't convert on our chances," Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said of his team's power play, which was stymied by a Ducks penalty kill that finished the regular season in the NHL's bottom third.

"It's execution," Boyle added, "having some poise and patience to make the right play. They're not doing anything we haven't seen before. We, on the other hand, didn't do what we have done all year."

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Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, the Sharks' top point-getters, each managed just one shot, and San Jose was shut out at home for the first time this season.

The Sharks did outshoot Anaheim 35-17. And Boyle and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff each hit the post in the third period as San Jose tried to even things up. But nothing got past Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who was making his first playoff appearance.

"He's a new goalie, but he's a big goalie and he takes up a lot of room out there," Boyle said. "When you get in tight, there's not a lot of room. We need to get some rebound goals and obviously we didn't do that tonight."

What the first part of the game lacked in scoring and offensive chances it made up for in physical play. The teams combined for 36 hits in the first period, with the Ducks getting credit for 19 of them. Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray, who led the club with 175 hits during the regular season, got four, including a center-ice knockdown of Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne.

"It's playoff hockey and you've got to bring the intensity. Everybody does," Murray said. "Guys who aren't usually hitters need to hit, and guys like myself that play physical have to be even more physical."

But as physical as the play got, things never deteriorated into the scuffling that marked several games between the teams this season.

Penalties and scoring chances increased in the second period, but the game stayed scoreless. The Sharks went on the power play four times, but had a hard time entering the zone.

"The strength of their penalty kill is their pursuit up ice and their retrievals back into the zone," McLellan said. "They do a good job of it."

The Sharks caught a break in the second period when the puck rolled through the crease after a wraparound attempt and Selanne couldn't put it into an open net.

Sharks players, like their coach, looked at the game as just one in a seven-game series.

"Last year we lost Game 1 against Calgary," Thornton said. "We've got to think about this for five minutes and get ready for Sunday."